What's Better Than Having a Jazz Gig on a Saturday?

Having two jazz gigs on a Saturday, of course.

That's my day tomorrow, so I'll be back with more later. Come check out one (or both!) of the gigs if you're in the area.

One oF Those Days

You know it's one of "those" days when...

• Mere minutes before you're supposed to leave the house in the morning, the zipper on your pants breaks. IAnd it was one of your favorite pair of work pants to boot.)


• You get to your first school, and the class has already started; they're on a different schedule today, and nobody bothered to tell you.


• You make an ATM deposit, and the machine doesn't like one of your checks (evidently made on someone's computer at home). It attempts to spit the check back out to you, but that action fails, and eventually, the machine gives you your card back without a receipt, much less a clear acknowledgment of the rest of your deposit.


• At the beginning of class at the college, you can't play them a particular song because your iPod has run out of juice.


• At various other times during the day, you're just a bit loopy--forgetting to call out a particular scale or having trouble expressing yourself.

That was my day in a nutshell. Ever have a day like that?

UPDATE: And now, after this trite post, I read the news about Ft. Hood and realize just how meaningless the entire post above really is. (That's par for the course on this day too, I guess.) Thoughts and prayers out to the survivors and the victims' families.

Help a Puppy (of the Snarky Variety) in Need

Are you a fan of Snarky Puppy? (And by all means, you should be.) I've extolled the virtues of this band many times in this blog, so I was really disappointed to read today's news. I'll let this MySpace bulletin tell the story:

Hello fellow Snarky friends,

My name is Jess Speer, and I am one of the biggest Super fans of Snarky Puppy in the world. They are my family and my brothers that I have never had. I have been working with the boys for over a year now, and I have to say that I have never worked with anyone as generous as these guys. I have watched them grow from the first time I saw them four years ago into the machine that they are today, and I would absolutely give anything to them to see them succeed.

Music is prophecy and not profit and these guys are out on the road almost nine months out of the year leaving their families and homes to spread their talent and love for music. They are not out there for fame, they are not out there for money. They are out there to try and make a living off of playing in a group with the most religeous musical connection that I have ever heard.

A few nights ago, their bus was vandalized in Canada. Not only that, the guitar,​bass,​amp,​harddrives,​mics,​chords,​suitcases,​clothes,​money,​memorabilia,​ etc. was all taken. To follow this “amazing” act of humanity, the bus has broken down, and they are stranded in Toronto. It's bad enough that musicians barely make enough money to live off of, and let’s just not get started on health insurance.

The guys need you. You are what matters to them the most. They are out there for you, giving you the gift of their talent because they love you. Please keep them in your good thoughts, prayers, and meditations. In the meantime, I am teaming up with fellow Snarks to put on a couple of benefit shows, fundraisers, and have also set up a paypal account for any amount of donations. It's easy just go to www.paypal.com and donate to snarkypuppy@​yahoo.​com.​ ANY amount helps. ANY instrumental donation helps. ANY love helps.

If you are personally interested in playing for the show or just helping out please feel free to contact me at:

Jessica L. Speer
jessicalspeer@​gmail.​com

Yikes. You always read these horror stories about things like this happening to bands on the road, and I really hate to hear about such a thing befalling a band that has brought me so much enjoyment over the past few years.

I'm not sure where Jess, the writer of the above, is located, so I don't know if any of the benefit shows she mentions will be local or not (but I'd sure think at least one of them would be), but I'll pass along any more information as I receive it.

UPDATE: Pegasus News music editor Sarah Crisman makes an appearance in the comments with a bit more info; also, her Twitter feed has even more regarding the benefit shows and status updates on Snarky.

Now They Can Build It, and I WIll Come

Upon my return home this evening, I came upon a great news item: My alma mater can now see the light at the end of the tunnel (and not one that's attached to an oncoming train) with regard to replacing its aging white elephant of a football stadium, Fouts Field. That's right, the plan for a new stadium was given final approval today by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and the university will waste no time getting started; a groundbreaking is scheduled for November 21, prior to the UNT-Army game.

I think this quote from UNT's president pretty much says it all:

"If you look at America's great universities, you'll see that they all have the three A's in common: great academics, great arts and great athletics. All are key to a vibrant alumni community and continued growth. And all require great facilities," said UNT President Gretchen M. Bataille. "I am committed to ensuring that UNT, like many of the nation's best research universities, strives to be excellent in everything we do."

If you're wondering why this music alumnus has been so highly in favor of this endeavor, check out these posts from this time last year. And you can see a concept drawing of the new stadium at the MeanGreenSports.com story linked above; just click the magnifying glass icon to make it bigger.

I was already going to the UNT game this Saturday, and now, no matter the outcome of the game, I think a lot of us will be happy to see that the post-Fouts Field era is closer than ever.

If This Was My "Early" Day, Then Why Didn't I Get Home Till 9:15?

There was a slight deviation to my schedule today that allowed me to finish at 6:00--about 45 minutes earlier than usual. (And yes, when my day started at 7:30 in the morning, there's something kind of sad that a 6:00 stop time is "early," but that's the way things are around here at the moment.) I started eating dinner when it was still light outside, ran a quick errand, and had one more thing to do before I got home; things were looking good.

And then I ran full tilt into a stack of midterm grades to average, and one makeup test to grade. Over two hours later, I was finally done. (Thank goodness my corner of Starbucks was quiet for the duration; not a single person--or a married one, for that matter--shared the area with me.)

I'm not complaining, mind you; I love what I do. And I could have done this over the weekend, but I chose to turn Saturday into a Very Chill Day. Having that day was worth the extra time tonight.

But I suppose this is all a way of saying that, while there are already a few things that have come up which I plan to blog about this week, they'll have to be put off till at least tomorrow (which means, if you read yesterday's post, that they might not be done until the weekend, LOL). Thanks again for your patience.

So how early did your day end today? Anyone go later than I did? Comment away if you wish...

Neither rain, nor snow....OK, well, maybe snow: My high schools' marching contest was rained out last Wednesday, and I was amazed at the swiftness with which that decision was made (they'd called it by ten that morning). The rain day was today, and it rained pretty much the whole time. But if the region's website is to be believed, they held the contest anyway (the rain day for the rain day would have been this Wednesday, and rain was again in the forecast). I guess they just said "to heck with it--we need to get this done." But I feel bad for the kids with nice horns and the schools that used electronics, and I hope none of my students got sick being out in the cold rain. (I can't imagine anyone but the most die-hard parents sitting in the wet bleachers, either.) But if they'd kept kicking the date down the road, we'd be getting into November, and the next thing you know, the contest would be getting snowed out. If it was indeed held, I know that the kids (not to mention the directors) will be happy that the 'meat" of marching season is over. Now, let's make some music...

This Is Turning Into a Weekly Ritual, So It Seems

I seem to notice a pattern during this, the busiest of all semesters, with regard to blogging by yours truly:

1) Post on Monday, one of my "earliest" finishes (6:45) of the week.

2) Start posts on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (and sometimes Friday) but never have time to finish them.

3) Catch up on Saturday or Sunday and post links to all the "missed" posts.

Well, here we are again, and this is what I've completed thus far today:

• I roll out a long-awaited rant about "activists" and how their being so easily offended isn't helping anyone solve problems.


• Remembering Vic Mizzy, composer of some favorite TV themes.


• Asking for some advice regarding dry winter skin on the hands.


• Once again, I chastise Congress (yes, an easy target) for attempting to mess around with college football

I'm pretty sure the week ahead will be just the same, but feel free to check in daily just in case I get to complete a post during the week.

Hey, Congress: Stop Playing Games with College Football

It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and across this great nation of ours, cheers ring out across college campuses far and wide as fans enjoy the weekly ritual of college football. Some teams will win, while others will lose; a lucky two will make it all the way to a supposed national championship game under the aegis of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), which has certainly had its share of detractors over the years.

Among other things, there's a fairly loud chorus of voices calling for some sort of playoff game, since, inevitably, an undefeated team (or at least one with a better record than those listed as #1 or #2 at the end of the season) will be left out of the big dance. But some note that the college football season is too long as it is, while others want to keep the decades-long tradition of the bowl games from falling by the wayside (and the current bowl setup allows many teams to close the year on a winning note), and a playoff system that started after the bowls would extend the season into the spring semester. I've even weighed in on this myself as far back as late 2004.

But about a year after that, an unwelcome party entered into the debate: Congress. Even more strange was that fact that one of the loudest voices in Congress was right here in the area: Rep. Joe Barton of Ennis, who's usually very much against big government. But in this case, Barton was right there in the middle of it, even holding a Congressional hearing on it in late '05. As he said at the time,

"College football is not just an exhilarating sport, but a billion-dollar business as well that Congress cannot ignore. This committee is vested with the responsibility for overseeing sports."

But--as I asked then, as now--are they really? Is there nothing that's free from the oversight of an overreaching government?

That proposed legislation failed to come to pass back then, but fast-forward four years to now, and they're at it again, with Barton once again leading the call by announcing that he and a fellow legislator are backing a federal political action committee called Playoff PAC, whose mission appears to be to take down the BCS. The stated purpose of the group is this:

Playoff PAC is a federal political committee dedicated to establishing a competitive post-season championship for college football. The Bowl Championship Series is inherently flawed. It crowns champions arbitrarily and stifles inter-conference competition. Fans, players, schools, and corporate sponsors will be better served when the BCS is replaced with an accessible playoff system that recognizes and rewards on-the-field accomplishment. To that end, Playoff PAC helps elect pro-reform political candidates, mobilizes public support, and provides a centralized source of pro-reform news, thought, and scholarship.

The new group “helps elect pro-reform political candidates, mobilizes public support and provides a centralized source of pro-reform news, thought and scholarship,” according to a press release. “Change will only happen when there are more college football reformers in Congress,” the group said.

But again, the question remains this: Is it really Congress' business to get involved in this? Brian Davidson of the National Collegiate Scouting Association makes a good point at the above link when he asks, "Is it the responsibility of Congress to dictate to Universities how they decide sports championships? The schools do receive enormous amounts of federal money in addition to the state revenues that help fund their sports teams. However, if a playoff fails to generate the current amount of revenue won’t taxpayers be called upon to fill the gap?"

As I said last December, we need Congress "fixing" the BCS about as much as we need football coaches making laws (although they couldn't do any worse than the current Congress, but that's another post for another time). Really, it comes down to this: If our elected "leaders" feel like they have time to do this, then they must have solved all the other pressing problems of the nation already. What's that--they haven't? OK, get to work on real business, then, and let the schools and their supporters figure this one out.

But if they really do end up tackling (heh) this problem, we can find some solace in a quote by David Boaz, from a post earlier in the year at the blog Cato at Liberty:

The best thing that can be said for this is that it’s probably actually safer to have Congress screwing around with amateur sports championships than with matters of war, spending, and central planning.

Amen to that.

And if nothing gets done this time, does anyone doubt that we'll be talking about this in another four years?